Accidental Fiancé (Unintentionally Yours #5)

5. Maggie

Chapter 5

Maggie

J ulian Black was my knight in shining armor on a white horse. I couldn’t believe he did that for me. It was something out of a fairy tale. But when we reached the dance floor, I knew I couldn't keep up the ruse.

I let go of his hand. He turned around, a question forming in those haunted eyes. I explained, “What you did back there, that was amazing. I appreciate it so much. But I'm letting you off the hook here. You don't need to dance with me.”

He replied by pulling me into his arms and assuming a dancing position. “They're still watching. I'm willing to keep going if you are.”

“I can't ask you to keep this up. I mean, are you even single?”

“Yes. You?”

“I am, but?—"

“But nothing. Why not have a little fun tonight? What's the harm? Besides, did you see Chloe's face? I haven't seen her that angry in a long time.”

I laughed. He was right. “She was pretty pissed that she didn't already know.”

“So, are we dancing or not?”

“Yeah, I like that. Let’s do it, we can catch up.”

Julian started to sway to the music, and I followed his lead. “So tell me, Maggie Bryant. How has life treated you over the past fifteen years?”

A nervous laugh escaped me. “Not as good as you.”

He shrugged. “I had a leg up. Not exactly a fair comparison.”

“If I remember right, your dad was wealthy, but nothing like you are now.”

“We were comfortable.”

“That's what wealthy people say.”

He laughed easily, shaking his head. “The truth is often a lot uglier than people realize.”

“What does that mean?”

He took a deep breath and smiled as though debating whether or not to tell me the whole story. “The truth of the matter is my family had started to struggle right around the time I was going off to college. If I hadn’t had my trust fund from my grandparents, there was no way I would have been able to go.”

“But you grew up in a mansion.”

“A mansion that was falling apart because we didn't have the money to maintain it. The roof in the east wing had caved in right before my freshman year of high school. There was mold in the walls. We even had bats in the attic and bees building an enormous colony in the chimney in my bedroom fireplace.”

I couldn’t believe it. “You’re kidding. Tell me you’re kidding.”

He shook his head. “It was my grandparents’ mansion. Not ours. We inherited it, but my father made some bad investments when I was young, and things fell into disrepair. Really, that's all it takes for generational wealth to fall apart. A few bad choices, and boom, you're just like everybody else.”

We were friends back then. I was shocked he hadn’t mentioned any of this before. “You never told me.”

“I was a proud teenage boy. What was I going to say? Especially after you told me about how you and your mom were living in a one-bedroom apartment after your dad left. Hell, I wanted to offer for you two to move in with us, but I knew that we didn't have a safe space for you. With the amount of mold in the mansion, we were moving from wing to wing for years, trying not to get sick.”

“Is that why we always studied at my place or the library?”

He smiled and nodded. “I was too embarrassed to say anything. I felt awful that we couldn't help you.”

“That wasn't your fault.”

“No. But it was a reminder of how helpless I was at the time. For a while there I sunk into a bit of a depression. But by senior year, I decided that I was not going to let myself fall into my father's footsteps. He had dragged our family down, and I was determined to be the one to pick us up. So I did.”

“Your mother must be proud.”

He chuckled. “Oh, she is. Especially after I bought her the Country Club that we were kicked out of. Now she gets to make the rules, and one of the first things she did was kick out all of the people who laughed at her when we couldn’t afford the dues.”

“Turnabout is fair play.”

He spun me, then dipped me, making me lightheaded for a breath before he stood me back up. “Turnabout.”

I laughed. “How was that turnabout or fair play?”

“We're engaged?”

My cheeks heated. “I'm sorry for putting you on the spot. I just didn't know what to say and I panicked. You were so sweet in high school, and I guess I just… again, thank you for helping me with that.”

“I'll be honest, it took the wind out of me for a second. But there are worse things to be called than Maggie Bryant's fiancé.”

“You're not mad?”

“How could I be? I was able to be a part of upsetting Chloe and Harmony. I got to make Emma do that little aw thing that she did. That was adorable. I'm not sure how to feel about that since I always thought she was one of the bad ones, and now I'm dancing with you. This is nothing but winning for me.”

I didn't know what to say but I couldn’t stop smiling at him. It made no sense for him to be so cooperative. Last month, the man was seen smoking cigars on some celebrity’s yacht. Now, he was doing this huge favor for me. It didn’t add up. “You are a really good sport.”

“I hope you are too.”

“What do you mean?”

I hadn't noticed that the DJ started to play a slow song until he said something. Julian’s hands slid from the middle of my back to just above my ass as he pulled me closer. Being pressed up against him was not something I had expected, but it wasn't exactly unwelcome, either.

Julian Black had grown into a very handsome man.

His dark hair was casually styled. It glinted in the swirling lights, offsetting his tan skin and emerald-green eyes. In the middle of his left eyebrow, a faint, jagged scar bolted through, ending just above his eyelid. It had happened during our senior year, right after his father had died. He refused to tell me what caused it, but later I found out he had picked a fight with Grant Worthington and put him in the hospital with a broken arm.

Grant and Chloe had been dating at the time, so it wasn’t hard to put the pieces of the fight together. I imagined she said something rude, and he responded in front of Grant. Teenage boys weren’t that hard to set off, and since it had not yet been a week since Julian’s father had died, he had an understandable hair trigger. But when I asked him about it after the dust settled, he refused to talk about it so I let it go.

Tonight, I didn’t want to let anything go. I was too busy drinking in the sight of him. His suit was dark, and at first I thought it matched his black hair, but when the lights hit it, a navy blue color came through. It was hard not to stare at his full, sensuous lips, so I cast my gaze downward.

His white button-down had been left unbuttoned at his throat, exposing a thick column of muscle that spoke to his diligent work ethic. No one had a body like that without working hard for it. Despite the muscles, he was light on his feet and a far better dancer than me.

I didn’t mind when his fingertips began to draw circles on the top of my ass. I laced my fingers at the back of his neck to bring him closer. His cologne made me think of fresh spring rain. Clean and crisp. New, but somehow familiar.

I didn’t know how far he would take this, but I was game for anything. He seemed set on selling the charade, and I didn’t mind.

It had been a long time since anyone held me like that. We were strangers now, but that didn't matter. It felt right, my body being close to his. Or maybe that was just a symptom of loneliness. Who could say? The song selection turned sentimental, and somehow, I felt closer to him dancing to it in his arms. Nostalgia was a funny thing.

“Maggie?” His deep voice rumbled through me to my core.

“Yes?”

His large hand cupped my ass, and his warmth penetrated me there. “I hope this isn't too forward.”

My brain stuttered. Thoughts evaporated like steam. “We’re selling a story, right?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“It’s fine. It’s good. Good salesmanship. Believable.” Stop talking, oh my God, stop talking.

His jaw grazed my temple as he whispered, “We can’t leave any room for doubt with those three. Their eyes are on us, so I’ll do my best to sell this. But you have more sales experience than I do. What should we do next to drive this home?” He gave my ass a squeeze when he said drive, and I thought I might melt.

Slow dancing should not cause my body to become this hot.

“Um, I think I need a drink.”

“Right now?”

I bobbed my head, too entranced to trust my voice.

He drew back and I couldn’t read him anymore. “Then let’s get you a drink.” We worked our way through the crowd and stood silently in line for the bar. I had no clue what he was thinking, but my thoughts grew lascivious.

It’s the loneliness, Maggie. Get your mind out of the gutter.

His warm hand on the small of my back did not help to clean up my dirty mind. We ordered cocktails and found a table on the edge of the dance floor still well within the sight of the Evil Three. They remained near the memory wall, gossiping with or about whomever came along. I wondered whether we were still the topic of conversation or if they’d moved on yet.

Julian smiled, drawing my attention back to him. “They really got to you, didn’t they?”

“You witnessed the last five minutes of the conversation but it felt like I was there for an eternity.”

“I’m surprised you’re here alone.”

“Nora Skinner was supposed to come with me. Actually, let me check on her. One sec.” I pulled out my phone to see a text from her.

Got stuck at work. I’m so sorry. Be there soon.

I grimaced. I shouldn’t be surprised, her work causes her to miss out on things often. “She must have another big case. I don’t think she’s coming.”

“She’s a lawyer, right?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“She was involved in a class-action suit that Black-Aster brought against Novonly last year. A rival company,” he explained. “I didn’t have much to do with it, but I recognized her name on some documents. I meant to give her a call but as usual, life got in the way.” He shrugged but then turned pointedly casual. “I understand you had a professional setback not too long ago.”

“If you don't mind, I don't want to talk about that right now.”

“We can talk about whatever you'd like, Maggie.”

I thought it might be weird to make small talk with Julian. But tapping into the memories of our shared history felt natural. “How is your mother doing these days? She was always so sweet to me.”

“Aside from running the country club like her own private revenge empire, she's doing great. Your folks?”

“We finally figured out what happened with Dad. Remember how we all said that he was crazy for leaving my mom?”

“Definitely. Your mom's great.”

I lifted a shoulder. “Turned out he actually went crazy.”

Julian choked on his whiskey and I patted his back for a moment. “He did?”

“Well, he had a stroke. A mini stroke. It happened in the part of the brain that controls personality changes.”

“The frontal lobe?”

“Yes. It didn't cause much other disability other than a little aphasia. But we didn't notice right away because he had moved out. It took about nine months for us to find out that there was actually something medically wrong with him, and by that point, the divorce had gone through.”

Julian’s eyes widened. “I am so sorry, that's terrible.”

“It is, and it isn’t.”

“How’s that?”

“Once we figured out what happened and that he didn't mean any of his bullshit, Mom and Dad actually rekindled their romance. He took it upon himself to woo her and make up for his awful behavior.. They got remarried on their anniversary.”

He laughed. “Wow. That’s… wow. I thought he had an affair. She forgave him for that?”

“Actually, he didn’t. He made a deal with his dental hygienist to go on a few fake dates to make Mom jealous.”

“You're kidding me.”

“Nope. He thought she was having an affair with her tennis instructor.”

“Your mom would never!”

I loved how sure he was of her, even after all these years. “I know, right? Anyway, he wanted to make her jealous, and Diane felt bad for him, so she went along with it. Paranoia is one of the things that the stroke caused, and a mini-stroke is often a precursor to a massive stroke. The doctors said the signs resemble a midlife crisis, so most people never find out until they have the big one, and by then, it’s too late. But Dad hit his head on the job site and had to get checked out. That’s how they found it.”

“That’s crazy,” he muttered into his drink. “Your mom is a saint.”

“She made Dad build her a house to make up for it, but yeah, she pretty much is.”

“I’d say she more than earned it.”

I drained my negroni cocktail that was too strong yet not strong enough. Liquid courage. “Why play along with me tonight, Jules?”

He paused. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“You could be spending your night doing anything with anyone right now. Everyone knows your reputation these days. But you’re here, at our high school reunion, pretending to be my fiancé. How come?” I said it, repercussions be damned.

Julian ran his fingertip along the rim of his glass, staring at it intently. “I could be doing anything with anyone right now. And yet I choose to be here, doing this with you.”

“But why?”

He peered at me as if he could see right through to my soul. “Because I remember the kind-hearted girl you were, and kindness is something I have missed for a long, long time. I’m curious to see whether it’s still in you or if time stole it from you.” He covered my hand with his. “I don’t think it did.”

My mouth went dry from his touch. Lust rolled in like a fog set to blanket my insides. “Jules?—"

“They’re watching again.”

Oh. That. “Think we’re still selling it?”

“Not sure. But I know what will do it.”

“What’s that?”

He cupped my cheek and stared into my eyes. I knew what was coming. It wasn’t real, but not one part of me cared it was fake. My brain checked out as my pulse ticked up, and I became dizzy when his mouth slanted over mine.